Shloka 23

Śānti-parva 206: Guṇa-hetu Moha, Kāma-krodha Chain, Indriya-utpatti, and Nirodha

Devanagari script

गुणैर्यस्त्ववरैर्युक्त: कथं विद्यात्‌ परान्‌ गुणान्‌ । अनुमानाद्धि गन्तव्यं गुणैरवयवै: परम्‌,भला, जो इन तुच्छ विषयोंमें फँसा हुआ है, वह परमदिव्य गुणोंको कैसे जान सकता है? जैसे धूमसे अग्निका अनुमान होता है, उसी प्रकार नित्यत्व आदि स्वरूपभूत दिव्य गुणोंद्वारा परब्रह्म परमात्माके स्वरूपका दिग्दर्शन हो सकता है

Transliteration

guṇair yas tv avarair yuktaḥ kathaṃ vidyāt parān guṇān | anumānād dhi gantavyaṃ guṇair avayavaiḥ param ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „Wie sollte einer, der an niedere Eigenschaften gebunden ist, die höheren Eigenschaften erkennen? Dem Höchsten nähert man sich durch Schlussfolgerung: Wie man das Feuer aus dem Rauch erschließt, so erhascht man auch die Natur des höchsten Brahman durch seine offenbaren Attribute und Hinweise.“

Word by Word

• {'guṇaiḥ': 'by qualities

• attributes (instrumental plural of guṇa)', 'yaḥ': 'who', 'tu': 'but

• indeed (emphatic particle)', 'avaraiḥ': 'inferior

• lower (qualities)', 'yuktaḥ': 'endowed with

• engaged in', 'katham': 'how', 'vidyāt': 'would know

• could understand (optative of √vid)', 'parān': 'higher

• superior', 'guṇān': 'qualities

• attributes', 'anumānāt': 'from inference

• by reasoning from signs', 'hi': 'indeed

• for', 'gantavyam': 'to be reached/understood

• should be proceeded toward', 'avayavaiḥ': 'by parts

• by partial aspects', 'param': 'the Supreme

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Supreme Brahman (Param)
• qualities (gunas)
• inference (anumana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A mind dominated by lower qualities cannot directly grasp higher, divine reality; one must approach the Supreme through inference—reading the subtle indications and attributes that point beyond the senses.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right understanding, Bhīṣma advises the listener that knowledge of the Supreme is not gained by crude attachment to inferior tendencies, but by discerning reasoning from signs—like inferring fire from smoke.